MMX HEMI Stroker Kits, Windage Trays and the Little Man With the Hammer by Byron Walker of MMX

When buying any stroker kit for your G3 Hemi, a very important step is to purchase (or modify yourself) a stroker windage tray. Generally speaking the aftermarket connecting rods (that will come in a stroker kit) have a taller bolt under head thickness, diameter, and location versus the stock rods. Combine this with moving the rod closer to the windage tray via a longer stroke crank, windage tray modifications are a necessity.

You can see in the photo below what happens when the windage tray is not clearanced for a longer stroke crankshaft. The running joke around the shop is that is sounds like a "Little Man with a Hammer" Trying to escape from the oil pan. The sound of rod bolts hitting the windage tray is often mis-diagnosed as a rod bearing failing, or rod knock.

When installing the windage tray on a stroker G3 hemi, I recommend using the 4 short MDS solenoid hold down bolts to bolt the tray straight to the pan rail, and rotating the engine over to verify a minimum of .060 clearance between the rod bolts and the windage tray. Even if you purchase a windage tray from us (MMX), I still recommend a visual verification just to be sure.